Parish: Killing Me Slowly

Chapter 10

Please, please, please don't hate me!! haha enjoy (:

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Chapter Ten

A knock on the door wakes me up. Someone else will get it.

Someone knocks again. And again. And again. And again. Will no one get the door? Gosh.

I stand up grumpily and stomp to the door, throwing it open.

"Do you know what common cour-" I stop when I see the person standing at the door. It's my father. He's dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat to top it off. Okay, what's with the western theme?

I glare at him. "What do you want?" You can practically feel the venom dripping from my voice.

He feigns hurt and looks at the ground then back up at me. "Is that anyway to talk to your father young lady?"

"What father?" I yell. "You're no father of mine!" I slam the door in his face and run around the house trying to find someone. Anyone. Where the hell is everybody?

When I hear the door quietly open and close, I freeze. Did he come in the house? Why would he come in the house? It's not his house. That would be trespassing and he could go to jail for it. On second thought, let him come in. If he's in jail I won't have to worry about him.

I quietly run into a room, but I don't close the door. I leave it exactly as it was. A closed door would only alert him to where I am, especially if it's locked. I look around the room frantically searching for a spot to hide. Closets and under the bed are so cliché. It's like putting up a sign that says 'Leigh is here!' and pointing. I mean, come on! Every horror movie ends up like that.

My eyes land on a vent just big enough for me to crawl through. I smile. That should be good enough.

I tug the vent off and crawl in, replacing the cover. Thankfully, the inside is swept clean of cobwebs and I don't see any spiders or rats. At least, not yet. Hopefully, I won't encounter them on this rather peculiar journey.

The door creeks open and I crawl backwards in the vent, keeping my eyes on the opening. A switch is flipped and light pours in through the cracks. I back up farther. Let's just hope I don't hit the back of the vent. That might make a loud noise.

A shadow passes over the open. I freeze and hold my breath. I don't know if this is sound proof or whatever but I'm pretty sure it would magnify my breathing or any noise for that matter. The shadow passes over the vent again, but this time it stops. From the silhouette, I can tell he's standing sideways. I don't think he'd bother to look in a vent. Horror movies never show people crawling in through vents, well except for Disturbia. But he hid something there so it's not technically a hiding spot for something living.

"Leigh." I hear someone call my voice softly. I was right to hide. It is my father.

I cringe when I hear his voice. He's trying to sound like the innocent father. Believe me when I say he's anything but.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." His words are haunting. I feel like I'm in that Hide and Seek movie. I know, a lot of movie references here but hey, it calls for them. I'm sure someone would be glad to make a movie out of my life. It'd sure attract a lot of attention.

"Leigh. Where are you baby girl?" The voice seems farther away and I notice the shadow is no longer over the vent.

The lights go out and I hear a door softly close. I don't dare move. He's tricked me enough times to know not to trust him. He might've just shut the door to see if I'd come out. Ha, tough luck. I am not moving from here until he's gone.

I pull out my phone and text Amanda.

'where r u?' the text says and I have enough common sense to turn my ringer off. And my dad thinks I'm stupid. Ha!

A faint light pops up. Oh wait. A light! Crap!

I shut the phone off and look behind me. I was right! The vent leads off left and right, but doesn't go straight.

I silently crawl over to the intersection and duck around a corner. I check my phone again.

'went 2 get groceries. Be back soon. Luv u!' well, she's going to gethome a lot sooner than she thought.

'u need 2 get home now!' I text her. Now is right. I wish she hadn't left. I could really use them right now. Then again, I have a feeling he planned this. He waited until everyone left the house but me so that we would be alone. He's done it more than enough times with Greg. I'm surprised I haven't caught on until now.

A light flashes and I flip my phone open once more. 'y?' I read and begin to get frustrated.

'my dad is in the house!' I send the message and wait. I'm so very impatient. It's so agonizing right now. Someone needs to be here! Why would they leave me alone? Wait, where are her parents even at? I know they have work but it's pretty dark out.

Maybe they got pissed at us for the flour fight this morning. Wouldn't surprise me. When they get angry, they usually go out for a drink or two. Sometimes, they come home completely smashed. I know they don't sound like good parents, but trust me, they really are. They actually care about Amanda, unlike how my father 'cares' about me. Yeah, he doesn't give a damn.

'on our way!' I read when I receive her next text. So I sit here, waiting for them to get home. I've no idea which grocery store they went to, but I'm sure it's not Wal-Mart. I mean, it's not even 2 minutes away. Sometimes, I wish I had smarter friends.

I hear footsteps in the hall, slow and heavy. He's still here then. Wonderful. Why did I tell them to come back? He would only hurt them. And Blade doesn't even know! What if he's with them? Well, I guess I'll find out. My life is going to get a lot worse whether he finds out or doesn't.

The light to the room flips back on and I hear footsteps growing closer to my hiding spot. Maybe he's found me. I don't understand how he could've. I've been very quiet.

A second after I hear the front door slam open, I hear the vent being ripped off the wall and thrown across the room. I peak around the corner and sure enough, my dad is squatting down and looking right at me.

"Hello princess. Did you miss me?" He grins wickedly and begins moving into the vents.

I have no where to go. No where to run. What am I supposed to do? I do the only thing I can think of. I start crawling towards him.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Why not go back around the corner. Well, obviously I don't know where it leads and if it doesn't let me out, I'll be trapped and in big trouble then. That leaves me with this option.

I think my father is surprised because he crawls back out of the vent and takes a few steps back. Either that or he wants me to come out. Well, he's certainly getting his wish. I hear pounding footsteps up the steps and the sound of the door shutting and locking. Looks like I'm on my own.

Wonderful.